The Last Spin is a short story about two men whose gangs have chosen them to settle their disagreement’s by playing Russian Roulette. It is written by Evan Hunter who lived in New York where  the story takes place.

The story begins in a dreary basement where two men from enemy gangs ,Tigo and Danny, are preparing to start playing Russian Roulette. Before getting to the point they make clear that they have nothing personally against each other and then they start the nerve-wracking game of life. Tigo volunteers to go first. He squeezes the trigger but it clicks on an empty chamber. On Danny’s turn happens the same; it clicks. This happens again and again and again and then Tigo decides to add one bullet more to lower the odds .

During the game they have a conversation about their girlfriends, the army, guns, gangs and life…. When time goes by they realize that they actually have quite much in common. Soon Tigo decides to add a one more bullet. Now the chances are 3:6. At the same time Tigo suggests that they could tell the gang they don’t want to be a part of it anymore, get real friends and go for a rowboating on a lake just they and their girlfriends. Danny agrees him and they decide that Danny’s spin is going to be the very last one. He puts the gun to his head, pulls the trigger and against all odds the gun fires and Danny’s head rips off. The story ends Tigo putting his head on the table starting to cry.

The story is very compelling. When you once start reading it, you just can’t stop anymore. It has a very thrilling atmosphere, mainly because of the game; you never know when the fateful gunshot comes and to who. Of course the setting is ideal for creating the atmosphere; the dreary and dark basement where the gunshots echo. It reflects perfectly the death.

Hunter writes in a very descriptive and interesting way. For example “the lethal grace of the weapon” and “ a look of incredulous shock knifed his eyes” are very ingenious ways to express the matter. But still the text is mostly the two men’s dialog  which sometimes is quite hard to understand.

I didn’t expect the story to end up like the way it did; Danny shooting his head off and shattering his face in front of his new friend. I admit that it was quite thrilling to read it but in the same time, very depressing and shocking. I would recommend this story for everyone who would like to know a little about the life in gangs and who is not afraid of shocking and honest stories.